AKAI Professional APC Key 25 MK2 - 25-Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller for Clip Launching with Ableton Live Lite, 40 RGB Pads and 8 Rotary Knobs,Black

There are a lot of reviews for this as a DAW. This isn't one of them. Welcome to my newest DJ Deck.My greatest love in this digital DJing world is the flexibility that DJs have with workflow. My greatest complaint is that everyone is still stuck in the thought processes that began with a two deck setup and a 3 band eq. It's time to move on from the hardware defined to the software mindset. This thing helps.It only took three days for me to custom map this to the two DJ programs I use; TRAKTOR and Virtual DJ. I can control stems, pitch, key, hot cues, transport pads, and a heck of a lot of effects. With all of them on the main page. Since then, I've had more time to work on my art due to it's size and portability, and having all my options on the main page means that I'm not flipping through pages, but just playing music and working my my sets.Being able to be software defined, it matters not that your use if different than mine, just program it for what you need. And the size is perfect to carry along - or just have near your desk so when the work day is done, you just move your keyboard out of the way... No big deck, No location change, No big deal.And performance? Let's be honest. Very few DJs need platters. I certainly don't. And neither does anyone else who isn't scratching, as long as you've got the nudge buttons, which I may add are trivial to map. I use this along my main deck for gigs to give me flexibility, but it would work just as well with a basic 2 or 4 channel mixer, and I wouldn't even need the mixer is someone, hint hint, would make an appropriately sized and priced 4x4 or 4x6 rotary encoder box. But if you want a new button or slider to bust out or cut a stem? It's right there! You want to set an instant double or loop? It can be right there! You have effects that are sick, but are a pain to set up and find in the menu? Program it! These can all be right there.There are 64 RGB pads, 17 led backlit buttons, and 9 sliders. The sliders aren't innofaders. (Duh) But they are consistent and smooth. And the pads are what you expect for $100. But they work every time, even if they are a bit more sensitive than I like. Programming was straightforward for my DJ software with no unexpected hiccups. Build quality is fine. I wouldn't want this for $300, but it is a super good value buy at $100. Especially considering the costs of it's competitors in this space.But the real benefit is the variety of pads and sliders. Depending upon your priorities, you can use 16 pads for 4 decks, 32 pads for 2 decks, or even 64 for one deck if you wanted. I use one row for common actions and loading. Two rows for effects, two for hot cues, one for loops/beatjumping, one for pitch/key (I do a lot of key mixing), and one for transport. The sliders run main volume, vocals, melody, and rhythm. There are still a few pads and a lot of buttons not in use.It is tools like this that make the age of digital DJing the magic that it is. I Highly Recommend this for anyone looking to try something different in their DJ skills, to move on to the next level, to get more mobile. After 3 weeks of use I'm already doing things I've never done, and sounding better and more entertaining that I've been in a while. You can do it. This can help.

I love this controller. It was dead easy to set up on my Macbook Air, and Ableton 11 Lite recognized it easily. There is a little setup involved, but it is dead simple if you follow the printed manual. However... On Ableton 10 the same cannot be said. I've not done this yet, but I do believe I should be able to locate the script on my Live 11 install and port it over to my other computer that's running Live Suite (V10).Otherwise, it means mapping manually, which is not terrible, but it's not what I want to do.The important stuff: The build is quite good, I like the key bed, and the knobs are solid.I will follow up when I get it 100% working on Ableton 10

Though it takes time learning everything it is capable of, it seems like it will meet all my expectations for using it for live shows. As a producer it's not possible for me to do live shows. I mean I can sit in a chair and press play, but with this I can. After mixing and mastering scenes and loops for live play intentionally, you can let your music play and just do the drums, or u can have different melodies and patterns come in at the press of a button, making it able to be played differently each time if you want. You can even use the notes and chords feature to play midi like a keyboard. The real magic is the 8 touch strips on the sides that allow you to manipulate the automation and effects on the fly. Really cool. I have a lot to learn! Very happy and much cheaper than a push! Still I'm sure the push is better.

As an Ableton Live user, I have to admit that this is a nice toy to have. Tons of new features and quick access to parameters.The only one thing I dislike are the touch faders. It’s hard to play with the parameters when the faders are touch sensitive, it makes it very difficult to move at a slow decimal rate.For example: If I’m trying to go from a threshold of -23.9 up to -23.0, the touch sensitivity makes it very difficult to do so, a knob like the one in the APC40 would have been much better and enjoyable to experiment with. Also, if you set a fader to a specific value, let’s say 12db, it always resets to a random number when touched, rather than continuing from the value it was previously in.Any questions about the product? Let me know.

So helpful for the show I was working on - just plug into the computer and it’s ready to go. I didn’t get a chance yet to use all of the various functions, just the keyboard with what I needed for a school musical pit. Much easier than a huge keyboard on my desk too.

This works great as a native controller for SoundSwitch. It is lightweight and has a small footprint. It works out the box with no issues.

This is a great entry level controller. I am not very good at using it just yet but this helps make it more simple to work with my DAW

This is OK. BIG emphasis on the "OK".I just got this to use as a physical soundboard/volume slider for Voicemeeter. It does work, kind of, but there is not very much documentation on how to use it and I had to really dig to find out how to send the correct MIDI commands to it. I'd probably have had a better time making my own MIDI board tbh. At least then the lighting being jank af would make sense. The lighting just doesn't work anymore now and I have no Idea what I did to make it stop working.Honestly I regret this purchase. If I had spent a little more on a better brand or even a different interface that isn't MIDI I'd prob be happier.